Evolution of a Traitor
by meherlin
Summary: Percy Jackson, Son of Neptune, has been sentenced to death by everyone he holds dear. Will he make it? What exactly did he do in the first place? Come find out. Watch a Roman Percy as he fights through the Second Titan War and does what needs to be done. Pairings not decided yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

I feel the sun beating down on my skin, calling me to wake up from my sleep. Peaceful. I can't describe sleep as much other than that anymore. Unfortunately, I had to wake up eventually.

"Piece of shit!"

"Sea filth!"

"You're dead, garbage! Just you wait."

Why can't I just stay asleep...

I can't even hear myself think as my first "visitors" are already throwing obscenities at me or my father. At first it was annoying, but slowly I have been getting used to them. I just wish they would stop.

Not that I can blame them considering I am responsible for the deaths of their fellow Legionnaires.

I see a few centurions outside my cell.

"Handcuff him. Blindfold him. Its time." I hear the newest centurion of the First, Micheal, make out. He looks as though he just can't wait for me to die.

Still... I can't blame him. If I were him I would want to kill me, too.

They shackle me up, blindfold me, and start shoving me around New Rome, half showing me off as a trophy, half escorting me to wherever it is they are taking me. I assume it is where I my final judgement is going to take place.

"Prepare, scum. You won't escape justice this time" one of the centurions escorting me stated.

 _Heh, if only they knew just how closely Justice and I were connected._

"What, no witty remarks? No snide comments? Percy we expected more from you," another spoke from my left side.

"..." I have absolutely nothing to say to them. They wouldn't and don't want to understand.

"No matter, only a little further before you will get what you deserve." And he told the truth. Shortly afterwards I heard doors slam open a collective gasp.

"Bring him over here, if you please" a new voice from within the room states. I immediately recognize it as Octavian, not that I am surprised he is going to handle my execution.

I am quickly and violently thrown onto my knees and bound at the feet as well. They really aren't taking any chances.

"Perseus Jackson, son of Neptune, disgrace of New Rome. You stand accused of..." Octavian begins. At this point, I just kinda block it out. EVERYONE already knows what I have done, but Octavian always was good for theatrics.

"...Treason, relaying of confidential information, and murder. How do you plead?" He asks as he rips off my blindfold allowing me to see my surroundings. The coliseum. Guess they wanted everyone to be able to see the spectacle. I do a quick glance and see exactly that. Basically everyone is here. Strange though, that Reyna is missing. I figured both Praetors would have to be present for this occasion, but I guess only Jason decided to show up. We make eye contact briefly, and he just gives me a look of sorrow and sympathy knowing there was nothing he could do. I don't really care either way. What's done is done.

"Guilty."

"Then... it is my great pleasure to sentence you to immediate death." He shouts as he unsheathes his sword, eliciting cheers from the crowd. I close my eyes awaiting my fate.

He lets the cheering die down before he continues.

"Any last words, scum?"

At this a small smile graces my lips.

"Yeah actually... If I had the opportunity to go back, I would do it all again."


	2. Chapter 2

**Just a quick heads up, I am not very good at putting my ideas into coherent words on paper when it comes to stuff like this. Sorry but its true. In general, I am going to be covering mostly what is important to the plot since I have never been good with extra details in anything I write. Also, I have no idea what to expect when it comes to the length of chapters.**

 **To those of you who reviewed saying they hope I continue, so do I my friends. So do I. Enjoy**

Chapter 1 - Introducing: Percy Jackson, son of Neptune

 _"Then... it is my great pleasure to sentence you to immediate death." Some boy shouts as he unsheathes his sword, eliciting cheers from the crowd that surrounds me._

 _He lets the cheering die down before he continues._

 _"Any last words, scum?"_

 _At this a small smile graces my lips._

 _"Yeah actually... If I had the opportunity to go back, I would do it all again."_

 _I watch as the boy raises his sword at me and swings, looking to decapitate me._

"GAHH!" I shout as I shoot awake from the horrible nightmare, sweating bullets. Goodness it all felt so real. Not that I am unused to realistic nightmares, I mean they come with the occupation of being a demigod. But man oh man that nightmare... My neck hurts just thinking about it. Why was I being killed by what looks like my fellow legionnaires? Why did I smile as a blade approached my head?

I decide not to look too far into it since, even though its a demigod's dream, it is still just a dream. I don't really have too much time to think on it anyway since today is the day I would join the Young Legion, the group for the demigods who arrived too early officially join a cohort or anything like that. Today is the day I get to prove my to the people of New Rome my existence.

My entire life here in New Rome has not exactly been pleasant.

Every day the people of New Rome remind me how much of a burden I am, how much they wished I was never born, and when they aren't reminding me, they are threatening me. And all because my father is Neptune, the Sea God.

Fear, that's what it is. They fear the power that children of Neptune have always possessed. They fear me due to the tradition of Romans fearing the sea in general. They fear the unpredictability of powers that are heavily based on emotions.

And this fear, they have turned into hatred.

And I have no qualms with disliking them right back. In the end, it doesn't matter who I am, but how society defines me, and those who live in New Rome have made it quite clear how they feel about me.

But now today is the day I get to start my own life, not one defined by those who dislike me, which reminds me... I should get ready.

* * *

I arrived where the Young Legion meets in the barracks every day. There aren't too many people here, no more than 20 I would guess. Everybody is talking to someone and for the most part not even noticing me, which was okay with me. I just kinda am doing my own thing when I see two people walk up to the front of the room, one boy and one girl.

"Good afternoon everyone! I know we haven't done any announcements or anything like this in quite some time," the boy starts. He has perfect blonde hair and blue eyes and just seemed super proper. Probably someone I would be butting heads with at some point.

"However, we have multiple new recruits to our little group today so to begin," The girl continued for him. _Heh, people actually do stuff like that?_ "my name is Reyna." She looked Hispanic of some sort maybe, and had dark brown or maybe black hair and brown eyes.

"And I am Jason. Welcome newcomers. We are the centurions of the Young Legion, it would do you well to listen to us." Jason looks around the room scanning all of us. His eyes linger on me and a look of recognition appears on his face before he continues on.

 _Great, already someone to judge me without knowing me._

The rest of the time goes on and nothing too important happens. It was mostly an introductory day of explaining schedules, showing us various places we would be working at, and other boring things. I couldn't help but notice one kid kept glaring at me when he thought I wasn't looking. I also couldn't help but feel as though I recognized him, but that is impossible since I know I haven't met any of these kids before now. Jason and Reyna despite seeming like sticks in the mud are actually pretty cool people, so I can't complain too much about my current situation.

After maybe a couple hours, we are dismissed, and I start to head to get some food, happy about the day I had.

Of course, as is the case of my life, everything just HAD to go to shit.

As I start walking between buildings to get where I am heading faster, one of the kids from the Young Legion, the one who had been glaring daggers at me earlier, comes from behind me and shoves me against a wall and hold me there. "What do you think you are doing, slug?"

"Getting food, now go away." I reply, hoping I can just end this without anything dumb happening. I notice there are 6 kids here though, including the boy who was pinning me to the wall, all of which were in the Young Legion.

"No can do. Ya see, you don't belong here. And we plan on teaching you that, forcefully. Get him, guys." He says as he backs off, letting the rest of them beat on me. Not much I could do in this situation as it as the other boy just stood there with a look of satisfaction. I try fighting back but I get overwhelmed quickly.

 _Why is it always me?_

*Punch*

 _Always me..._

*Kick*

I am quickly becoming a bloody mess.

 _I am so... tired of this._

 _*_ Punch*

 _Fight back, loser._

"GRAHHHHHHH" I give off an unholy yell as I feel a huge tug in my stomach and my vision darkens. The next thing I hear is a bunch of bodies hitting the floor. Quickly they get up and start backing away.

"Come on Octavian, let's get out of here!"

 _Octavian, hm_

I immediately collapse to the ground in exhaustion.

"I hate them... I hate them... I hate them..." I keep muttering to myself.

"You know, hate is such a strong word." A new voice chimes in as I finally black out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Unfortunately, I messed up(well besides just not being able to put what I want to say into a good story) something small in the last chapter. When Percy thinks "Fight back, loser" it was supposed to be acknowledged that he didn't think it was his thought. Oops.**

Chapter 2 - Prove Your Worth

 _Fight back, loser..._

 _Fight back_

That voice... it doesn't sound like me, and yet it just makes so much sense. They deserve what is coming to them.

"Yes, they did." Someone says in my head, startling me awake.

My eyes shoot open, instantly awake and alert. I scramble to get up, but I am still sore, but I can't help but notice healed, from... yesterday? Maybe earlier today?

"At ease, young demigod. I am not here to fight. And to answer your question, earlier today."

"Wait, what is happening. I didn't say anything." I take a look at this person before me. Female, regal, proud, and strong appearance. Doesn't seem hostile, but at this point my mind is mostly focused on the aura radiating off her though so I don't want to take the chance.

"Yes yes. I see you still haven't pieced it together. My name is Invidia." The woman, Invidia, says to me.

"Wait... like THE Invidia. Goddess of revenge?" I stammer out.

She gives me an annoyed look at this.

"Mortals only look at the worst of everything and everyone, but in a way you are not wrong. I represent justice and balance in the world, whether it be short-term or long-term. Often enough for mortals, vengeance is a result of that need for balance. But that is beside the point."

Wait a second, balance and justice? So...

"You were that voice I heard then. That means I'm not crazy!"

"I guess that is a good way to view the circumstances, and yes, that was indeed me."

That seems peculiar. Don't gods and goddesses usually do something nice because they want something done for them?

"What's the catch." I say it more as a statement than a question.

"You catch on quickly. However, this time there for the most part isn't one."

"For the most part meaning... what exactly?"

"You said earlier that you hated those kids. Hate, however, is something one should have only for the vilest of enemies. And it does not need to be mutually shared. You want to hate those who hate you, but all you would be doing is proving everything they fear about you right. If you truly want things to be better, you must prove them wrong."

"But how?"

"That is for you to figure out. I figure a good place to start would be to do what is just even when those around you don't know it. You may not even be able to do it for everyone, but I am sure you will be able to change the hearts of some."

"I... I think I understand. I guess I just have one more question. How do I get out of here, and while we are at it, where is here anyway?"

"That is not important for you to know. Just turn around and you will be back in the alley."

"Okay. I guess thanks for the help." I say as I start to turn around but one more thing is nagging in the back of my head. "Why though? Why go through the trouble for one demigod?"

"Ah, now that is the right question. For now, know two things. You have peaked my interest, and I am the goddess of justice and balance and am able to interfere in certain matters involving said domain when necessary..." I here her say as I finally turn around, gone from that place.

"... and the choices you have to face are ones I wouldn't thrust upon even my worst enemies..."


	4. Chapter 4

**I am completely to blame for not updating. There were times that I could have but chose not to since I'm a lazy piece of garbage, but oh well. I decided getting back into writing this would be a good distraction from things I'd rather not be thinking about, so here we go.**

 **If you recognize it, it isn't mine.**

Chapter 3 - New Friends

I appear back in the alley and it seems like absolutely no time has passed at all. Still early enough to catch dinner, still late enough for the sun to be going down.

Strange goddess, Invidia is. I still have absolutely no idea as to what would make a goddess notice me over any other legionnaire. Not that is matters too much at this point since she already decided that I was her newest point of interest. I mean who cares why when it has already happened.

I can't help but feel a sense of foreboding. If an immortal finds me interesting it can't be for anything good for me. I mean, does anything good ever happen to the old heroes of myth whose lives were directly affected by a god? Not that I can think of.

Especially the Goddess of Justice and Revenge, with no disrespect of course, but who would actually want her attention.

I quickly start heading over to get the mess hall to grab something to eat before I head back to my room to get some sleep. Gotta get on a good sleep schedule in order to keep up with the Young Legion after all.

At this point though, I just want to improve so next time I get to at least defend myself properly, or possibly even fight back, even in a 6 vs 1 situation. I really don't care how long it will take, I'm just so tired of people thinking they can push me around without consequences.

After a short time I reach my destination and enter swiftly, not wasting any time to grab myself some food.

"... useless son of Bacchus should leave the Young Legion before he gets hurt." I hear that same stupid voice from earlier. Octavian. Already back at his bullshit and it probably hasn't even be an hour. I quickly turn to evaluate the situation and am pleased to see his brute squad is no longer accompanying him. He is mocking some boy, sitting alone at one of the tables who was, I'd imagine, enjoying his meal and sipping... Red Kool-aid? To each his own I guess.

I quickly walk over, careful not to be spotted by the douche himself and slam my tray on the table causing Octavian to jump out of his skin before he saw who it was and put the stupidest grin I had ever seen on his smug face. Gods I hate that face.

"Ah, if it isn't the slug himself. I-"

"Just shut up! Literally no ones wants to hear your voice, you arrogant asshole. After today's events I'm not in the mood to deal your shit so I will give you one chance. Walk. Away. Now." I could feel that familiar tug in my gut, and the contents of many people's drinks in the surrounding area started vibrating and bubbling.

"!" Octavian squeaked something out of his mouth before speed walking away. I guess he noticed it, too. I take a seat next to the boy and turn to face him.

"The name's Percy, Percy Jackson, son of Neptune." I stick out my hand to shake. "If Octavian ever bothers you again just tell me. I got your back."

"Dakota, son of Bacchus." He says shaking my hand. "And thanks, Octavian is such a jerk."

"Heh, you can say that again." A brief silence passes between us, neither really knowing what to say.

"I saw you earlier at YL( **Young Legion, too lazy to type it every time** )." Dakota says, "We should be sparring partners from now on during training, I think it would work out well for us. Both of us are new to the YL, so it'll be an easy way to get acclimated into things."

"Yeah, that sounds great to me. Sparring with someone who doesn't actually want to hurt me will be nice."

Dakota looks at me strangely, not understanding my comment but at that point the conversation was basically over. We just finished our meals mostly in silence, with small meaningless conversation every once in a while. It was a nice change of pace.

I couldn't help but notice the female leader of YL glancing at me every once in a while, and I wonder if she saw what went on between me and Octavian.

* * *

-Next day

"Welcome back everyone, I hope you had a relaxing night, because today we are getting back to our actual schedule. No more introductory events or tours. In two weeks time, we will be having a tournament per say to rank people on their ability in one on one combat. It will be our way of judging where everyone stands among each other as well as giving the Cohorts easy access to the strengths of their future recruits. Granted, it is a preliminary judging that is subject to change as time goes on, but where you start is still extremely important. Work hard, think harder, and I am sure you will do just fine." Jason said to all of us.

"Okay everyone, we are going to start with 15 laps around the arena, lets get going." Reyna added.

And off we went for our first jog ever. Being decently in shape myself, I was able to stay towards the somewhat in the front of the middle of the pack if that makes any sense. Not quite the fastest, but still slightly above average. As we were running, Octavian's minions kept bumping me, or trying to trip me, but they quickly fell behind due to poor stamina.

"10 laps in and you don't seem tired. That's good." I hear a voice come from next to me as someone falls into step with me. I look over and to my surprise see Reyna there. Not entirely sure why she is here. Maybe it has to do with yesterday. I sure as heck am not gonna bring it up though.

"Yeah, I'm not too much of a slouch when it comes to just pure running." I say back to her, "Been doing it for most of my life." I add without thinking. She kinda tilts her head at me weirdly, not quite sure what to take from that offhand comment.

"Er, that came out wrong." I quickly say. She doesn't need to know my past, I'm here for new friends, and a fresh start away from the normal people.

"That's not what I am here to talk about anyway. I saw what happened last night as the mess hall."

"Ah, I see. So I'm in trouble then?" I ask. "Otherwise you probably wouldn't have brought it up at all."

"You're smarter than you look, but no, you are not in trouble." We finished our laps and stopped, she turned fully to me. "Just... pick your battles wisely. Having Octavian as your enemy is probably not the best for your future in the Legion. I see a lot of potential in you, having such strong access to your powers at a young age, but his family holds a lot of influence in the city. You could blow your chances before even beginning." She says, before turning to walk away.

 **Well, hope this was satisfactory. Until next time have a good day, and peace out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**As most of you can probably tell, I in general mostly talk about that which is directly related to the story, whether its developing character, introducing antagonists, foreshadowing, etc, because it is simple and easy. As a result, I tend to skip around which may not be what most of you want. If so, just tell me. I could probably come up with something better.**

 **If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

Chapter 4 - "O"

-one week later

"Percy Jackson, Octavian please come forward, its time for your spar." Reyna says to us. She gives me a slight nod, not that it meant much of anything to me. I subconsciously looked down at my bandaged hand.

It just burns me inside that he can just get away with crap like this, but it's not like I have proof that he did it.

I quickly walk up to the small circle, ready to win this "spar" with Octavian. He knows I am way better at fighting than he is. Anyone who was watched me fight does. It sure didn't stop him from having a shit-eating grin on his face as he walked up. Oh how I long to punch that face.

We stop arms reach apart for the customary handshake before the spar. His face still hasn't changed.

"How's the hand, slug?"

"Oh ya know, in about as good of condition as your pride is gonna be in about 15 seconds."

"Hah, not even you can beat me that quickly."

I am about to reply, but Reyna butts in.

"As you two know, this is a spar. No intentional injuries, only what is necessary to win. First to disarm their opponent or force them out of the circle wins.

A couple seconds pass, and we step away from each other.

"BEGIN!"

I promptly swing at him, hard, throwing him off-balance as he blocks my strike. His scrawniness certainly is not helping him here. I then, simply shove him out of the circle.

"So sad." I turn away. "Maybe you should stop relying on others to win your fights for you." I saw before walking away, not even bothering to see his reaction.

"You know, sparring is supposed to be a nice form of training to get all parties involved stronger. You aren't helping yourself or Octavian by treating it in such a way." Reyna says as she starts walking with me a bit.

"Yeah well, Octavian doesn't deserve my help; if that means I take an 'L' in training for the day then so be it."

She sighs, "Fine, spar with me."

"Really?" We both stop and turn to each other, "You sure you wanna degrade yourself fighting me?" I ask sarcastically.

She chuckles slightly.

"Well, I mean if you don't want to then don't." She starts walking away before I call back.

"I never said that, come on, Reyna. I guess I could use a good spar, and I bet you could, too."

Needless to say, she kicked my ass this time.

* * *

"Come on Dakota, you gotta be faster than that!" I claim as we are trading sword strokes. "I am barely putting in half effort, and it is still an even match."

"I'm trying my best, Percy, but you are better than me. This is why we are training, idiot. I still have work to do."

"Yeah I guess." I say between strikes as he is about to jab at me once more. "You are still projecting your moves." I say as I disarm him for the third time this session, "But you are getting way better. It's nice to actually feel the improvement."

"How are you so good at fighting? We both train the same amount, yet you are leagues ahead of me."

"Hah, that is where you are wrong. When I am not training with here at YL, I am training by myself somewhere else. You know, you could join me sometime, it is less focused on fighting but more intensive on other areas, like speed, dexterity, and stamina. Especially after what happened..."

 _-Flashback-_

 _"Where'd all that fight you had during training go, chump? Beating me today? Just a fluke. This ought to be a nice reminder of just how much of a fluke it was."_

 _My brain freezes at the image I see in front of me. Octavian's cronies holding Dakota down as Octavian stands over him victoriously, with a horrible smile on his face, as his fiendish friends laugh with him._

 _I quickly run over to help, and punch Octavian in the face, hard. His buddies quickly go on the offensive. I-_

"-Stop. No one our ages acts like you do. You are so serious all the time, especially after what happened with Octavian five days ago you've been too focused on training. You need to relax. Maybe even have some fun like a normal kid." Dakota says to me.

At that point, my face turned serious. "Hey, don't bring that up so lightly. You would have been seriously hurt if I didn't intervene. This needs to happen. And also, as you well know by know, I don't have the luxury of fun. Never have. Now shut up and go get your sword."

At this, Dakota breaks eye contact with me, looking down at my right hand, or more specifically, the bandage wrapped around it. "Can I see it?" He asks quietly.

I sigh to myself and turn my back to him. "Do you actually want to see?" I look to around to see if anyone else from YL is watching.

He takes a second to think about the situation. "Yes, I do. Considering it's my fault you have it I feel as though I should see the damage I've done."

"Stop that. Now. No one is to blame except Octavian for what happened, he took the situation too far. I would have stepped in to help anyone." I tell Dakota as I carefully start to unwrap, still glancing around now and then.

"Every time I look at this it reminds me just how much I hate fighting." I tell him as I am finishing up. "As hypocritical as it sounds, my hatred towards fighting is why I train so hard." I look at my exposed hand and run a finger across the wound, causing a tickling sensation. "My hand is but one of many reasons I despise it, and from my experience so far training is the only solution to my problem."

I turn towards him and reveal my hand, upon which is a crudely carved "O" engraved into it.

Dakota just stared at it, disturbed that his friend was injured so badly for his own sake.

"After all, it's not a conflict if victory is assured."

 **Hope you enjoy. Until next time, have a good day and peace out.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again to whoever is reading this. Hope you are having a good day/evening.**

 **Not that its important to anything related to you(the reader), but its easy to speak when no one knows who the hell I am.** **I had a dream the other night that I actually remembered which hasn't happened in a really long time. Like, years since I last enjoyed and remembered a dream. It wasn't even that long, but I really couldn't care less. Put me in a super good mood.**

 **Also, you guys remember that according to the books World War II was a fight between children of the Big Three, right?**

Chapter 5 - The Tournament

"Percy, can I ask you a question?" Dakota inquires me as we are walking to the arena for the tournament being held for the YL. I can't wait to test my skills against everyone else. Just thinking about it is getting me excited.

"Well, you just did, but if you absolutely _have_ to then go ahead." I say back, my mind still mostly on the tournament. I've been watching a lot of the other members of the YL to see how their skills are progressing, and I must say I am rather disappointed. They simply aren't working as hard as they should be. I don't think anyone in YL can beat me at this point besides maybe Reyna and Jason.

"Why does everyone look at you so angrily?"

I mean, I guess Dakota will put up a good fight, but he simply isn't as strong of a fighter as I - wait what did he just say?

"Wah, come again, Dakota?"

"Why does everyone look at you angrily?"

"You noticed that huh? Not exactly what I was expecting from you, especially right before we are about to start a tournament. Not exactly the best way to start my day."

"I mean, if you'd rather not talk about it, its completely okay."

"Nah its fine. You deserve to know. You've been a really good friend to me, and I want to tell you since you asked. Long version or short version?" I ask him.

"Well, is there is middle-length version? We still have some walking to do before we get there."

"Hm, I guess. So, by now you know my father is Neptune then, right? First off, I wasn't even supposed to be born due to the agreement between Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto to not sire children, so that's a bad start, but Jason is a son of Jupiter so clearly it isn't a huge problem. Anyway, Neptune doesn't get very much good rep here in New Rome. Rome has a bad history with the ocean, and so they don't exactly like my father very much. However, they aren't foolish nor stupid enough to go against a god, so they take their beef out of his children."

"I guess that makes sense, but I feel like a grudge doesn't warrant the disapproval you get from everyone. A lot of people seem to genuinely despise you."

"Correct you are, my friend. And to that I point to our powers."

"Our?"

"Powers shared by children of Neptune. For whatever reason Neptune seems to pass on a larger portion of his domain to his children than the other gods, which explains why I am physically stronger than most other demigods naturally, and why I am able to utilize some water abilities already. However, these powers can be hard to control and fluctuate heavily based on our emotions. A child of Neptune can and sometimes do lose control of their abilities and cause extreme damage and injury to those around them." I pause, allowing him to take a second and retain what I just said.

"Okay then. So, I am guessing it has happened then?"

"Indeed. There were these twin children of Neptune, named Mary and Matt, who were so inseparable and closely connected that there are multiple accounts of them finishing each others thoughts. Mary was an extremely adept demigod all around, with less ability to control water than her brother, while Matt had an unprecedented control of water, even to the point where he could change the temperature of the water inside of people. When World War II between the gods and demigods occurred, Mary and Matt fought flawlessly together, making up for each others weaknesses perfectly. Well, in one battle, Mary saved Matt's life at the sacrifice of her own, causing Mary to get shot right through the heart, and she died immediately. He watched the life drain from her eyes as the man who shot her down smiled at his good fortune. Matt's power exploded in absolute rage, killing the man instantly by freezing the water in his body. Unfortunately he wasn't done there... He just kept unleashing his anger into those around him, eventually freezing the entire battlefield. He killed everyone, including his allies."

"Woah. That's intense."

"Yup, I try not to think about it too often."

"How do you know all of this?"

"People have been like this with me ever since I was claimed, and it became public that I was a son of Neptune. And lets just say that after a while, a person gets tired of not knowing what is going on around him, and he goes searching for answers, so I did my research. But enough about this, we are here finally. I hope you are ready to watch me win."

"As if, I'm not just gonna roll over and let you beat me."

"Well, let's just wait and see, shall we?"

* * *

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting an audience for this tournament, and yet this arena was full of eager viewers, ready to watch us beat the crap out of each other. I guess its similar to how the ancient Romans loved watching Gladiator fights. Oh well, now I have a full crowd here to watch me win.

"Greetings, one and all, to the Young Legion Tournament of Heroes!" Reyna says from the middle of the arena, and standing next to her is Jason, both of which are in full gear, which I find interesting. "I'm sure everyone is eager to get started, but there is one announcement beforehand to do last minute changes. We have two special guests here with us today. Praetors Alyssa and Micheal are here along with one Centurion from each Cohort to watch the tournament!"

The crowd immediately starts cheering and even my eyes go wide. I look up to the stands and indeed, in the Podium, were both Praetors, looking down at us with a look of excitement and appraisal. After the cheering died down finally, Jason was able to continue from where Reyna left off.

"Yes, and they are here to scouting for new Legionnaires! As a result, both Reyna and I are entering the tournament as contestants rather than as officiators."

Reyna and Jason both jog over to join the large group of demigods about to fight not just to see who is stronger than the others, but to potentially move up in the world, one year younger than normal. We wait for a few seconds when some stirring occurs up in the Podium, and Alyssa stands up holding a paper of what I presume is the tournament bracket.

"As you know, if you surrender, leave the ring, or are beaten until unable to continue you are out. Best of one since we don't have all day. Now, would Percy Jackson and Octavian please step forward, it is time for the first fight of round one." Her voice echoes through the stadium.

Wow, what are the odds of fighting the dirt bag himself first round? I guess the gods smile on me every now and then. I can't help but hear them booing me as I approach the dueling ring. Many thoughts are racing through my head about the people of New Rome, gods how I want to make them suffer sometimes.

 _Revenge and Justice are not the same._

What the-

"Begin!"

I barely even had my sword ready by the time Octavian approached me, swinging like his life depended on it. I easily dodged the blow and jabbed back, testing the waters to see where is skills lie since the last time we sparred. We went back into neutral, but I quickly went on the aggressive, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep up with my speed. The pressure I was applying with the strokes of my sword quickly pushed him back eventually to the point where he was on the edge of the ring, where I promptly got in a sword-lock with him and shoved him away, ending the duel.

Immediately, the booing began again. What a supportive crowd. Doesn't matter to me though, I'm winning this tournament either way.

The next few rounds went as easily as the first, nobody really pushing me too hard. At least the crowd seemed to start tolerating my presence as the booing wasn't nearly as serious as before. I think I might have even heard a couple cheers of my name, but its hard to tell with all the noise from the tournament. I look over as Dakota is finishing his fight with... someone whose name I don't know. Now that I think about it, I really don't know many people do I? Guess that comes with being ostracized by the majority of the populace.

"Okay everyone!" Micheal says from the Podium, "Its time for a 10 minute break before the semifinals. The fights are going to be Percy vs Reyna and Dakota vs Jason, with the winners of those two matches playing for the title. Good luck to the competitors. Bets are going to be taken at this time."

"Hey Perce!" Dakota says as he jogs over to me. "Congrats on making it to the semis, not that I am surprised at all. Too bad I don't get to kick your butt outta here yet. Guess it'll have to wait til the finals huh?"

"And what are we, chopped liver?" A new voice says from behind us. I turn to see Reyna and Jason looking slightly peeved but not too serious about it.

"Is this a trick question?" I ask innocently, receiving a glare from Reyna which shuts me up pretty quickly.

"Wow Percy, I guess she already has you beat if that's how you are gonna act when she looks at you haha." Dakota laughs. She then glares at Dakota promptly shutting him up.

"See? That's a pretty intimidating look." I say as I turn and walk away with Dakota next to me. "Emphasis on pretty." I say just loud enough to where Jason and Reyna could hear us if they were listening. Fighting can just as easily be won in the mind after all, so I figure may as well try to throw them off their game a little bit. I mean, I don't expect either of them to be able to beat me, yet at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if one did. After all, its about time the fighting began anyway.


End file.
